Trickle Down Theory

One year as my brother John surveyed his classroom in preparation for the upcoming Valentine's Day party, he noticed that it's contents were the result of the Trickle Down Theory. All the essential necessaries going to the High School first, cast offs trickling down to the elementary schools.

Students busy with their art projects, construction hearts and tissue squares littering the floor, a child's raised hand caught his attention. "Mr. K. what did you do for Valentine's Day when you were a kid if you liked a girl?"

"I would put five Valentines in her mailbox on her desk;" began my brother "so that she would know I liked her more than any of the other boys in our class." Children stopped mid-paste, to hear this revelation from their teacher. "What would happen if you gave a girl five Valentines?" they wanted to know. "I would get to sit by her when it was time to watch the film strip on the day of our class party." John's words had everyone's attention. They didn't know what a film strip was. The story continued.

"When I was in Mrs. Lewiky's Fifth Grade class, I really like Sarah McClay; and I did what every boy did when he liked a girl, I wrote her name on the whitewall of my high tops for her to see. But I saw that two other boys in our class had her name on their sneakers, too. I had to find a way to let her to know I liked her the most. (Holly's Cute as Can Be pattern, found here.)

"The next time my Mom took me with her to the Mall, I bought Sarah a little gold heart necklace with my allowance money."

"Then instead of taking the bus home, I followed Sarah who was a Walker, to see which house was hers in the neighborhood right next to the school. When Saturday came I rode my bike to her house, and put the necklace in her mailbox. I waited on the recess ground of our school and peeked through the shrubs to make sure she found the necklace."

Arts and crafts completely forgotten, John's students wanted to know the end of the story. "I got to sit next to Sarah during the filmstrip!"

John surprised his students the day of their Valentine's Party by procuring from deep within the school's library stacks, a film strip reader and the very film he had watched so many years ago. One student was chosen to turn the wheel of the reader, another to feed the film. Lights dimmed, "Sit wherever you would like." John noticed the many Boy/Girl pairings as a result of the Trickle Down Theory.

My Valentine's on their way for Debby's, Cozy Blanket, swap.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Just the other day a young mother e-mailed me to tell me she enjoyed my blog very much. She also wrote that she has two children adopted from the country of China and would love to have my New Year's character to celebrate the special day.

As I worked into the evening hours to complete him, my thoughts drifted to the very beginning of my relationship with my husband and his many trips to this beautiful country. I was flooded with the memories of a heart yearning for it's other half.

It's with such sweetness that I look at the little pocket calenders I would keep by my bedside that counted down the days until Pat's return. They were days to "get through" until I would see him again.

I would peek ahead before falling asleep to the day he would return. A heart proclaiming, Pat's Home!

All the days of my marriage, my husband has been away from home more than he has been home. I can attest that the heart truly does grow fonder.

 
What my husband most enjoyed about his travels to China at a time when Westerners had been forbidden to do so for over 50 years, were the sweet faces of the children he would spy from his passing taxi. This memory has made me want to visit again my Around the World ornaments for Christmas.

When my children were little, our Christmas was filled with these little children's faces and their animal pets. They would play "I Spy" trying to be first to find the animal that matched it's child. It helped them connect with the far away places their father often visited. So look for many of these to appear this year on my blog.

For the cutest story about the time my brother tried to "Dig to China" click here.

Pinterest Inspiration

Don't you just love a vintage globe? That map blue water, the green of areas with trees, the expanse of the desert, the way you can trace the course of a river and imagine how it all came to be. I have loved globes as long as I can recall.

When I came upon this photograph on the loveliest of blogs, The Tea Cozy, I knew my own beloved globe needed a makeover. A search for just the right Weekly Reader became my mission.

It is important to find a reader from the first or second grade as the images become too small to use as the child learns to read and there are more words on a page.  You want the ones that begin, "Spot." "See Spot." "See Spot Run."

 

Or in the case of my early 1950's reader, "Jip." "See Jip run, run, run." Choose both large and small sized images from your reader to create movement. Cut away all background by cutting into image along naturally drawn line divisions. This will make your figures truly seem as though they are galloping across your globe.

Look for figures that are performing an action, and then find a spot on your globe to mimic their behavior. These children were cutting out paper on their living room floor in their reader, and now they are examining Antarctica on my globe. Cute as Can Be!

The process of Modge Podge is a very fast one; so be prepared. Have a damp/dry cloth 1. Determine where your figure will go. 2. Using a square brush, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge to area of globe where figure will be placed. 3. Apply same thin layer to back of image, making sure your brush strokes are smooth. 4. Position figure and immediately apply same thin coat of Modge Podge to printed side of figure. Using a brush instead of a sponge allows you to bear down if wrinkles need to be removed. 5. Wipe away excess Modge Podge from globe, dry immediately with cloth. By the time you move on to your next image, this one will already be dry. It's that quick!

I must apologize for these very blurry images. The earth is a very difficult thing to photograph! It must be all the curvature. Regardless, I just had to share this little girl baking on the Tropic of Capricorn. Her table is just like my craft table!

 

I knew I wanted to put this sweet mother image near America. It just makes me smile!

Gosh, I feel as though I've got the world in my hands. (Couldn't resisit!)

My second idea from Pinterest, and I apologize I can't find again the original source, was a cute way to hang Christmas stockings, or for me, Valentines from the 1930's.  The original called for a regular sized wooden hanger that looped a length of string from side to side, clothes pins to hang items from.

I found this adorable child size wooden hanger in the loveliest shade of blue but found myself laughing to discover my hanging string would only hold two Valentines. Solution, I trimmed most, but NOT ALL, of the pointy part of vintage candle holders, leaving just enough of the narrow section for a wire hook to hang. I hot glued them in place. I also snipped the bulbous part of the back of a holder to allow a straight pin to be pushed through for the wall. What a great idea!

It has been such a rainy weekend here in the Heart of Ohio. All of our snow has melted away, more rain coming our way. No more Pinterest for me for the near future as I MUST make my paper clay ornaments for my swap. But come to think of it, with all that rain..... Maybe one more peek at Pinterest for another great idea!

PS Did you notice I placed the little children eating Animal Crackers on Africa. Oh, just one more look!

Now that's cute!

A Date for John

My brother John was a very handsome young man in High School with many girls wanting to be his girlfriend. But these were the girls he had gone to school with all of his life, they didn't interest him.

A member of the Honors Chorus, John was chosen to sing at the Kennedy Center as part of a larger chorus composed of students from schools in the Washington, DC area. An orchestra was formed this way as well to accompany the singers. There were two oboist in the orchestra, and one of them caught John's eye.

Smiles shared from a distance, John could tell the girl was interested in him as well. Not able to directly speak to her, he asked a fellow chorus member from her school to relay to her that John wanted to take her out.

Arrangements were made through the go-between, John was to pick her up at her house at eight the following Saturday to attend her school's musical. Transportation arranged, his long-time childhood friend Mark would act as chauffeur.

The girl's house easily found, John knocked on her door eager to see her again. What a surprise to find the student had told the wrong oboist that John had a tremendous crush on her. Before John stood a girl not at all attractive wearing her braces headgear. She was ecstatic to see such a handsome boy before her. "I'm sthooo glad thooo meeth you John!" Spittle landing on John with each "T" she spoke.

 
Chauffeur Mark could not contain his joy at the situation John found himself in. He purposefully slurred his "T's" as well. "Thhis is going thooo be a greathh nighttt." Poor John was soaking wet by the end of the musical.

The evening at it's end, John nervously walked the girl to her front door. He knew she would expect a kiss. John could see Mark watching from the car. "Well, thank you for going out with me. I'm really not allowed to date yet, but my parents made an exception for this evening." He quickly kissed her metal mouth guard and turned and walked away. John would never see either girl again, but for one of them, the chance to date John was a chance to date a gentleman.

  

"You look so cute from behind!"

I love to be in my craft room late at night. I find the stillness soothing and the cast of shadows beautiful. A chance to finish my Valentine's Garland. Oh how I love the way it turned out.

PREPARATION:
Remove all decoration from a vintage plastic Christmas garland (Etsy) and THREAD WITH FISHING LINE to support weight, (or use plastic chain from hardware store). The figure eight links allow items to hang in front or behind each other creating movement instead of straight in a line. Hot glue floral decoration at intervals.

REPETITIVE FOCAL POINTS:
MAIN FOCAL POINT: Divide garland into equal visual sections. There should be one main focal point for each section. Mine are large paper Valentines I have made featuring the faces of the children.

  
SECONDARY FOCAL POINT:
I have hung one school Valentine from the same line in each section. This cute little rabbit is from Hallmark. They each feature a distinctive large red heart.

SOMETHING RED:
In each section I have hung the sweetest little playing cards that are both red and CUTE with their Dutch figures.

CUTE FROM BEHIND:
I love the backs of Valentines almost as much as the front! There are the most wonderfully printed images in RED that absolutely make me giddy with joy. I have backed them with red card stock. My husband will say to me, "Don't you think we have enough RED in this house?" to which my reply is, "You can NEVER have too much RED!"

MORE RED:
I found shiny red cupids to hang at JoAnn Fabrics, small sized Christmas ornaments from my crafting stash; and I hung back on my garland red reindeer that came with the garland. This is after all a Side by Side Holiday!

SOMETHING SMALL:
I have cut from Valentines from the 1940's called A-meri-Cards, (or letters cAc) the sweet little children that can be found. Their faces are very distinctive. They are my very favorite Valentines of all! Straight hangers created from wire instead of rings are used to allow them to hang at varying lengths to fill in spots where needed.

Yes, it took me awhile to purchase, make, and gather together the elements for this garland, but it is one I will love to use for years to come.  And because you might not recognize which Valentines to purchase that will be Cute from Behind, I have scanned some for you!

 

Such a Happy Day!

I love the morning pattern of my husband and myself. My husband always downstairs first will call out as he hears me descending, "Well, there she is!" Kisses exchanged, pets fed, coffee brewing, the toaster toasting, an exchange of the day's agenda always given. "I'm in my craft room today." my most likely declaration.

My husband's response is always the same. "Well of course! Where else would you be?"

Oh my gosh am I a happily boring person. Content as grit in an oyster eager to reveal the pearl it will become. How thankful I am you allow me to share my treasures with you!

I will be keeping the above four Valentines, but I will be dividing 60 more just like these between my Bee Mine Ornament participants. Again, I can't express enough how grateful I am to have friends to share in my good fortune.

It was such fun trying to group together Valentines I hope each lady will enjoy. The above three cuties will go to Holly, Cotton Pickin Fun.

I'm sending a collection of cowboys and horses to Holly of Damita's Pretty Wrap, and she isn't even in my swap! I hope she will like them as I know she loves to ride.

I have plenty more Valentines to share in the coming days. I hope you will find one that suits your crafting needs. That always makes for a happy day, and today is Such a Happy Day!